1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to applications involving the Internet, and in particular, to a system and method for operating scientific instruments over wide area networks such as the Internet.
2. Description of Related Art
Access to sophisticated scientific instruments is often difficult and problematic for most researchers. Usually, only wealthy organizations can afford such instruments, making it difficult for researchers at smaller or less well off organizations to perform necessary experiments. Educational institutions especially can rarely afford all the equipment needed to provide adequate scientific training. In addition, there are often only one or few such instruments available in a geographic area, or the world at large, requiring researchers to travel in order to use the instruments. As a result, such instruments may not be used effectively or continuously.
The advent of the Internet holds the promise for resolving these and other problems. More specifically, the present invention solves these problems by providing real-time access to remote devices, such as scientific instruments, using the Internet.